Crime stigma hurting Trench Town - Culture Yard operators, hoteliers discouraging tourists from going to reggae’s birthplace

Operators at Trench Town's Culture Yard are crying foul at what they are describing as the alleged labelling of the community as a no-go zone by hoteliers.

For several years, tour manager Donnette 'Sophia' Dowe said, Trench Town has suffered at the hand of the stigma, which is bad for business.

"You have different resorts in Ocho Rios and all over that tell tourists not to come to Trench Town and Kingston because it's a bad area. We have been having tours from 1999 and a mishap has never happened in the area before. A tourist has never got raped or robbed. Trench Town should not be called a no-go zone," Dowe said.

She said that most tourists venture on their own to the reggae birthplace, but this is against the warnings of hoteliers.

Trench Town, a tough inner-city community in St Andrew, has produced several entertainment and sporting stars. It is best known as the place where Bob Marley and the Wailers created many iconic reggae songs.

"The tourists will come and complain to us, and say they are being told to not come here because it is dangerous. Luckily, we have a few tour companies that work with us. They are not carrying any bus loads, but they try as hard as possible to bring as many people as they can. You have people from Poland, Russia and Sweden who will plan a trip to come here all year round, and when they reach at Customs and say they are staying in Trench Town, they tell them not to come, and we need that to stop. Give us a chance."

Property manager Clifford Bent added that some tourists visit the area for more than just musical interest.

"People really a come fi interact with people inna the ghetto, dem waan know how the people dem wash. Anuh everybody come here because of reggae, but we a get too much fight," he said.

Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Mark Golding told THE WEEKEND STAR that he is unaware of any incidents against tourists in the area, but said damaging comments about Trench Town are unwarranted.

"Trench Town has a great deal to offer in terms of things to see, being the birthplace of the Wailers as a group, and one of the places where Rastafari livity, culture and spirituality emerged," Golding said.

"There is a lot of stigma that seems to be cast our way from time to time, and we need to fight against that because it's not fair and not based on actual data."

He encouraged the ministries of Tourism and National Security to aid in curtailing any labelling of the community which may affect the livelihood and growth of Trench Town.

"We want to ask the Ministry of Tourism to encourage hotels not to take a stance against visiting Kingston or Trench Town for their guests, because there is no basis for that. The Ministry of National Security, who is responsible for the immigration services, needs to assist in discouraging persons at ports of entry making adverse comments about the safety of visiting Trench Town or other parts of Kingston that persons may want to visit because we are not under any state of emergency now."

He added: "Our murder rate is obviously higher than we want, but that is a problem that affects Jamaica generally. So it is not fair to pick on us as being some place that is unsafe for visitors, it's not true."

Attempts to contact Omar Robinson, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, proved futile up to press time.